Search

My Other Blog

My NYT Bestseller!

What's a Wreck?

A Cake Wreck is any cake that is unintentionally sad, silly, creepy, inappropriate - you name it. A Wreck is not necessarily a poorly-made cake; it's simply one I find funny, for any of a number of reasons. Anyone who has ever smeared frosting on a baked good has made a Wreck at one time or another, so I'm not here to vilify decorators: Cake Wrecks is just about finding the funny in unexpected, sugar-filled places.

I love seeing online bakery galleries with consistently gorgeous, creative, and impeccably detailed cakes. Too often I'll find a great cake, only to visit the original site and discover it's the one stand-out in a gallery of otherwise lackluster specimens.

That said, I was thrilled when a reader tipped me off to Courtney Clark's work over at Cake Nouveau; every entry is so amazing, I couldn't pick just one favorite! So here are six samples, but I highly recommend you visit her site to see the rest of her work: it is well worth your time.

That scroll work is perfection, and I love the tiny roses peeking out.

As a self-proclaimed Disney Geek, I'm loving Courtney's interpretation of Snow White here. (There's also a Toy Story version on her site.)

Doing what I do, I've seen a lot of amazing purse cakes. I mean, a LOT. But this has got to be my all-time favorite:

Gorgeous.

I'm not really sure why this is called "rattlesnake", but for you non-bakers out there: look at the way the sides of this cake are shaped. See those cartoony curves? And how the bows look like actual fabric? That, my friends, is called talent. Sweet, sugar-coated talent.

Now, I know this next one is fairly simple, but I had to include it - I just HAD to:It's orange and pink and perfect all over. Jen likes.

And lastly, an Alice in Wonderland theme:That teapot is awesome. And a very merry un-birthday to you all!

I was just talking to my boyfriend about this really amazing cake place in the Kerrytown district here in Ann Arbor while I was looking at the Cake Nouveau website, but I couldn't remember the name of the place. Then I came across the "Kerrytown" cake on the site, and I realized that this was the place!

I'm so happy to see Cake Nouveau featured on Sunday Sweets. They definitely deserve to be featured!

Gorgeous cakes. How can one bear eating them?I have always loved orange and pink together--it's so unexpected!My 32-yr.-old daughter would like the Alice cake; she's a huge fan of Lewis Carrol's Alice--it's a subtle theme in her life.

It took me a few minutes staring at the Rattlesnake cake, but I think I get it....see how the tiers resemble the rattle end of a rattlesnake's tail? Even down to the curve on each tier. She's made a beautiful interpretation of it. That cake is brilliant. And those bows! Amazing.

That purse-cake is amazing. It's fantastic to look at and I'm in love with the detailing - she manages to make fondant look like fabric, leather, and metal all at the same time! - but it's still soft enough to look edible. Even appetizing. Hm, I need to stop reading this blog before breakfast...

Meh. They're pretty, but in my opinion a little fondant goes a long way. When I find myself trying to figure out where the actual cake layers are under the fondant, that's too far.

OTOH, considered as props, these are works of art.

Word verification: guete. That unfortunate foreign guy who accepts an invitation to a party and then discovers that nobody thought to warn him about the weird customs. Okay, I caught the garter. Now what am I supposed to do with it?